The World Works in Mysterious Ways
by ninaninagrrr
Summary: If only he had gotten out and saved himself. He was surely able to do it, there was no doubt about it. But no, he had to be "knight-in-shinning-armor" all of a sudden and protect her from the falling rubble, using his own body as a shield, no less.


**A/N: **This is my first fanfiction and I must admit, I am quite nervous. I was compelled to write this story after watching _Bereft _and finally decided to post it. I am not accustomed to having my stories read in such a manner but I am willing to digress. Anyways, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated as I know I do not write well.

Oh, and the earthquake thing was a coincidence. I mean no harm about the earthquake in Japan in any way, shape, or form.

Enjoy(:

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Young Justice

_An avalanche? Avalanches don't happen in cities, do they?_

_No, no they do not._

_Then what was that? Just a building collapsing? Why had it felt like it was so much more then?_

Artemis groaned heavily. She had a huge headache. It made her want to sit up -but she realized she could not. Something was pressing her down, keeping her down. And, boy, was it heavy.

That is when it dawned on her:

Everything was fine, almost fantastic. The team was sent out to Northern California for a covert mission to intercept some sort of illegal deal in an old building. It was supposed to be an easy mission, in the fact that it was a simple drug bust, rather than a fight to the death with some infamous villain of the new age. They were no Al Capone's, after all, just a few people making a buck for an impairing substance.

Of course, Artemis had been teamed up with the one person she could not stand; Kid Flash. She was beginning to think that her teammates were purposely setting them up, trying to force them to get along.

_Psh, tough luck._

But they did make a good team. Artemis was fully aware of her surroundings while Wally was quick to react. Such a pair was almost impossible to attack.

"Why do you look so serious, Artie? It's not very feminine."

She rolled her eyes at him, keeping her position and arrow ready to go.

"And maybe you should do something about your hair too; it's getting kinda plain."

"Will you shut up?" She hissed at him. "We're on a mission."

"Just saying." He shrugged. All his super speed was beginning to make him impatient. "I'm so bored. You'd at least think they'd have enough courtesy to be here on time."

His voice was beyond annoying at this point and she let out a soft growl to let him know. "Stupid, annoying, flirtatious, impatient little son of a─"

That's when it happened.

It sounded almost like a bomb, loud and terrifying. It was enough to get both of them to stop.

The ground shook violently. _Was this an earthquake?_

Artemis stood, trying to regain her balance as the building rocked back and forth. It was an odd feeling; being from the east, an earthquake was almost unheard of.

"Artemis!"

She did not even see it coming, although the first piece of rubble should have been a giveaway.

The building was falling down.

It is one thing in the movies, when there is music and action to accompany many situations such as this. However, it is a completely different thing when it happens to you. There was no silence to give it away, just a deep rumble in the earth. And then, even that was overtaken by the sound of falling rubble, piling on top of anything in its path.

Wally had reacted rather slowly, set off from the weird and awkward sensation, but it was much quicker than hers. The shouting should have ignited it inside her, but it did not; she was just so petrified…

Artemis coughed, sending wicked pains to her chest. Oh, her lungs just wanted clean, fresh air, but with each rush inhalation, she only sucked down more dust.

"Kid Flash?" Her coughing fit continued. He was crushing her. Finally, a thick goop of blood made its way out of her. The blood, in all its slimy glory, splattered against the broken walls and roof piled around her. Only a long gooey string of blood mixed with saliva was left dangling from the side of her mouth.

"Wally" The blonde called for him again. Her voice was strained, terrified of the thought of why he might not be answering. She had been tackled to the ground, currently laying on her stomach with the speedster on her back.

If only he had gotten out and saved himself. He was surely able to do it, there was no doubt about it. But no, he had to be all "knight-in-shinning-armor" all of a sudden and protect her from the rubble, using his own body as a shield, no less. Artemis was completely capable of taking care of herself.

"Wally?" She let a tear slip from her left eye. Maybe he was just unconscious. "Please answer me."

As annoying as he was, she did not want him dead.

The archer tried to push her body up, but the weight was too much as the feeling of broken bones attacked her, causing her to let out an antagonizing cry.

"Artemis! Is that you? Where are you? Where's KF?" It was Robin, good ole' Boy Wonder. He found them! Artemis wanted to cry out in joy; they will be saved.

"Robin!" That was the only thing she was able to say. Any more syllables would have been too much for her. And luckily, she did not need anymore. They were quickly on their way to help.

Dim light flooded into her eyes as wonderful air touched her lungs. M'gann could be seen with her hands poised perfectly on her temples. Telekinesis was an excellent gift, especially in situations like these.

The weight lifted off her and she realized that Superboy had pulled Wally out. Then Aqualad reached in for her.

She was not able to suppress a whimper of pain when he tugged on her, but it was hard to decipher whether the pain was from her ankle or wrist, perhaps both.

Hopping on one foot, Artemis breathed deeply. But it was just too much for her.

She fainted─ barely having been caught by Kaldur.

The teen had come to long enough in the Bioship to see Wally across the way, alive and breathing.

The two had been detained overnight in Mount Justice for obvious reasons. Batman accepted the failure in the team easily, even if it was not easy for Artemis. It did not matter, hell or high water, a mission was a mission and failure was taboo.

_Why were the lights kept on? Why did they have to be so bright?_

Artemis threw a pillow over her head to try and deflect the lights and let out an anxious growl. Mr. Sandman must have hated her, the way she was unable to reach that glorious point called sleep.

Taking hold of the pillow she placed above herself ─finally realizing it was a stupid idea─ she slammed it to her side. Her body shot up immediately, followed by her slowly stepping out of the hospital-like bed.

Yeah, like a broken ankle, some fractured ribs, and a sprained wrist could keep her bedridden.

Feet lightly tapping against the floor, she made her way over to the best place to go when you cannot sleep, the kitchen. It was something about food and the comfort it brought that pulled her there, but she was not going to admit _that_.

The fridge opened with a crack as she bent down to scavenge inside when a voice caught her by surprise.

"Hah! Caught you in the act!"

That playful tone was no other than Wally. Even a near death experience was not enough to dampen his spirits. Artemis jumped, nearly banging her head against the fridge.

"Wally!" She gritted her teeth. Psh, as if all the physical pain she had gone through was not enough. "I swear to god─"

He laughed; she could not believe he just laughed. "Can't sleep?"

The subject changed effortlessly as his image sank into her. A bandage was wrapped around his head and he was on crutches. Fortunately for her, she was able to walk without the metal bars, as long as she did not put too much weight on her right side.

"No." She answered and looked away. He saved her; he would be alright if he just did not save her.

_Gah_, it made her want to punch him!

Instead, she calmed herself and retaliated a question. "Can't sleep either?"

"Not allowed to." He grinned and tapped his head. "Concussion."

The blonde frowned at him, shooting dagger at his pathetic little injuries. Gosh, it was eating at her.

"I could use some company." The redhead scratched the back of his neck. "─if you're up to it, I mean. Everyone else kind of dozed off on me."

That caught her off guard. But it made her sad, somewhat. She replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "Sure."

Then he limped away, looking back only a few times to make sure she was following him. "It's funny, when we're told to go to sleep, we want to stay up and when we're told to stay up, we want to go to sleep."

"Yeah," She sighed, deep in thought. "The world works in mysterious ways."

The archer trailed him from behind and was finally compelled to speak up. "Why did you save me?"

The green-eyed boy turned back to look at her.

"I mean, God knows how fast you can go. Why do that if it led to─" She frowned and gestured towards him. "─you know I would have been fine."

Even with a broken leg, he was still fast. He made his way back to her in no time. "Because that's what teammates do… no matter how stubborn _someone _may be."

He turned, continuing to lead. But then she caught his hand.

Their lips met briefly, if any. This time, he had been the surprised one. And it showed when she pulled back.

A light blush spread across the upper parts of her cheeks and she forced herself to look away. Wally, as fast as he was, could not understand what had happened. It was so quick, the only thing he could remember was that she smelled sweet and clean.

"I um, just wanted to say thank you." Artemis brushed a piece of her long blonde hair out of her eyes.

_Was she seriously just going to walk away after that? Yeah, good luck._

Wally caught hold of her good wrist, tugging her back. Lip-locked again, no one fought to pull away. And this time it was much clearer to him; she was soft and warm, gentle against him even, as he lightly traced her mouth with his. He had never felt so many butterflies in his stomach at once, and that made him giddy.

"Anytime." His green eyes gleamed down at her.


End file.
